The collection includes detective novels “The Thirty-Nine Steps” by the Scottish writer John Beacan (1875–1940) and “The Mask of Dimitrios” by the Englishman Eric Ambler (b. 1909). Each of them reveals espionage conspiracies aimed at the physical elimination of political figures before the outbreak of the World War 1914–1918. and in the 20–30s of our century. The narration is told on behalf of the authors - not just observers of events, but also their involuntary participants.